July 4
For the United States holiday, the Fourth of July, see Independence Day. Events * 836 - Pactum Sicardi, peace between the Principality of Benevento and the Duchy of Naples * 993 - Saint Ulrich of Augsburg canonized. *1054 - A supernova is observed by the Chinese, the Arabs and possibly Amerindians near the star ζ Tauri. For several months it remains bright enough to be seen during the day. Its remnants form the Crab Nebula. *1120 - Jordan II of Capua anointed as prince after his infant nephew's death *1187 - The Crusades: Battle of Hattin - Saladin defeats Guy of Lusignan, King of Jerusalem. *1253 - Battle of West-Capelle: John I of Avesnes defeats Guy of Dampierre. *1359 - Francesco II Ordelaffi of Forlì surrenders to the Papal commander Gil de Albornoz. *1636 - City of Providence, Rhode Island forms. *1712 - 11 slaves are executed in New York for starting an uprising that killed 9 Caucasians *1776 - American Independence Day . The United States Declaration of Independence by the Second Continental Congress declaring itself free of British rule. Signed in Philadelphia. *1802 - At West Point, New York the United States Military Academy opens. *1803 - The Louisiana Purchase is announced to the American people. *1810 - The French occupy Amsterdam. *1817 - At Rome, United States, construction on the Erie Canal begins. *1826 - Former American presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson die, fifty years to the day after the adoption of the United States Declaration of Independence. *1827 - Slavery is abolished in New York State. *1837 - Grand Junction Railway, world's first long-distance railway, opens between Birmingham and Liverpool. *1838 - The Iowa Territory is organized. *1840 - The Cunard Line's 700 ton wooden paddle steamer [[Wikipedia:RMS Britannia|RMS Britannia]] departs from Liverpool bound for Halifax, Nova Scotia on the first transatlantic crossing with a scheduled end. *1845 - Near Concord, Henry David Thoreau embarks on a two-year experiment in simple living at Walden Pond (see Walden). *1855 - In Brooklyn, the first edition of Walt Whitman's book of poems titled Leaves of Grass is published. *1859 - Austro-Sardinian War: The Battle of Magenta. *1862 - Lewis Carroll tells Alice Liddell a story that would grow into Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequels. *1863 - American Civil War: Battle of Vicksburg - Vicksburg surrenders to Ulysses S. Grant after 47 days of siege. 150 miles up the Mississippi River, a Confederate Army is repulsed at the Battle of Helena, Arkansas. *1865 - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is published. *1881 - In Alabama, the Tuskegee Institute opens. *1886 - First scheduled Canadian transcontinental train arrives in Port Moody, British Columbia. *1887 - Founder of Pakistan, Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah joined Sindh-Madrasa-tul-Islam, Karachi. *1892 - Western Samoa changes the International Date Line, so that year there were 367 days in this country, with two occurrences of Monday, July 4. *1894 - The short-lived Republic of Hawaii is proclaimed by Sanford B. Dole. *1910 - African-American boxer Jack Johnson knocks out white boxer Jim Jeffries in a heavyweight boxing match sparking race riots across the United States. *1918 - Ottoman sultan Mehmed VI ascends to the throne. * 1918 - Bolsheviks kill Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his family (Julian calendar date). *1927 - First flight of the Lockheed Vega. *1934 - Joe Louis wins his first professional boxing match. * 1934 - Leo Szilard patents the chain-reaction design for the atomic bomb. *1939 - Lou Gehrig, recently diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, tells a crowd at Yankee Stadium that he considered himself "The luckiest man on the face of the earth" as he announces his retirement from major league baseball. *1941 - Mass murder of Polish scientists and writers, committed by Nazi Germans in the captured Polish city of Lwów. *1946 - After 381 years of near-continuous colonial rule, the Philippines is granted full independence by the United States. *1947 - "Indian Independence Bill" is presented before British House of Commons, suggesting bifurcation of British India into two sovereign countries - India and Pakistan. *1950 - First broadcast by Radio Free Europe. *1959 - With the admission of Alaska as the 49th U.S. state earlier in the year, the 49-star flag of the United States debuts in Philadelphia. *1960 - Due to the post-Independence Day admission of Hawaiˈi as the 50th U.S. state on August 21, 1959, the 50-star flag of the United States debuts in Philadelphia almost ten and a half months later (see Flag Act). *1966 - President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Freedom of Information Act into United States law. The act goes into effect the next year. *1968 Two teens are killed at Lake Herman Road in California. They were the first (known) victims of the Zodiac Killer. *1970 - Popular syndicated radio show, "American Top 40", hosted by Casey Kasem, debuts. *1976 - Israeli commandos raid Entebbe airport in Uganda, rescuing all of the passengers and crew of an Air France jetliner seized by Palestinian terrorists. *1982 - Iranian diplomats kidnapping:Four Iranian diplomats kidnapped by Lebanese militia in Lebanon. *1987 - In France, former Gestapo chief Klaus Barbie (aka the "Butcher of Lyon") is convicted of crimes against humanity and is sentenced to life imprisonment. *1992 - USS George Washington, a Nimitz Class aircraft carrier of the United States Navy is commissioned at Norfolk. *1993 - Sumitomo Chemical's resin plant in Nihama explodes killing one and injuring three workers. *1997 - NASA's Pathfinder space probe lands on the surface of Mars. *2004 - The cornerstone of the Freedom Tower is laid on the site of the World Trade Center in New York City. (This was largely a symbolic event; actual construction would not start for several weeks) *2005 - The Deep Impact collider hits the comet Tempel 1. *2006 - Space Shuttle program: STS-121 Mission - [[Wikipedia:Space Shuttle Discovery|Space Shuttle Discovery]] launches at 18:37:55 UTC. * 2006 - North Korea tests four short-range missiles, one medium-range missile, and a long-range Taepodong-2. The long-range Taepodong-2 reportedly fails in mid-air over the Sea of Japan. * 2007 - Zaca Fire Starts in Santa Barbara, California becomes second largest fire in California history. Births *1330 - Ashikaga Yoshiakira, Japanese shogun (d. 1367) *1546 - Murat III, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1595) *1694 - Louis-Claude Daquin, French composer (d. 1772) *1715 - Christian Fürchtegott Gellert, German poet (d. 1769) *1719 - Michel-Jean Sedaine, French dramatist (d. 1797) *1790 - George Everest, Welsh surveyor and namesake of Mt. Everest (d. 1866) *1799 - King Oscar I of Sweden, French general (d. 1859) *1804 - Nathaniel Hawthorne, American writer (d. 1864) *1807 - Giuseppe Garibaldi, Italian patriot (d. 1882) *1816 - Hiram Walker, American grocer and distiller (d. 1899) *1826 - Stephen Foster, American songwriter (d. 1864) *1845 - Thomas Barnardo, Irish humanitarian (d. 1905) *1847 - James Anthony Bailey, American circus impresario (d. 1906) *1854 - Victor Babeş, Romanian bacteriologist (d. 1926) *1872 - Calvin Coolidge, 30th President of the United States (d. 1933) *1881 - Ulysses S. Grant III, American soldier (d. 1968) *1882 - Louis B. Mayer, American film producer (d. 1957) *1883 - Rube Goldberg, American cartoonist (d. 1970) *1895 - Irving Caesar, American lyricist and composer (d. 1996) *1896 - Mao Dun, Chinese writer (d. 1981) *1898 - Dr. Pilar Barbosa, Puerto Rican historian (d. 1997) * 1898 - Gertrude Lawrence, English-born actress (d. 1952) *1902 - Meyer Lansky, Russian-born American gangster (d. 1983) * 1902 - George Murphy, American entertainer (d. 1992) *1903 - Flor Peeters, Belgian composer, organist and teacher (d. 1986) *1904 - Angela Baddeley, English actress (d. 1976) *1905 - Irving Johnson, American adventurer (d. 1991) *1907 - Gordon Griffith, American director (d. 1958) *1910 - Gloria Stuart, American actress *1911 - Mitch Miller, American entertainer *1912 - Viviane Romance, French actress (d. 1991) *1916 - Iva Toguri D'Aquino, American thought to be Tokyo Rose in World War II (d. 2006) *1917 - Manolete, Spanish bullfighter (d. 1947) *1918 - Ann Landers, American advice columnist (d. 2002) * 1918 - Abigail Van Buren, American advice columnist ("Dear Abby") * 1918 - King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV of Tonga (d. 2006) *1920 - Norm Drucker, American basketball referee * 1920 - Leona Helmsley, American hotel operator and real estate investor (d. 2007) *1921 - Gerard Debreu, French economist, Nobel laureate (d. 2004) * 1921 - Tibor Varga, Hungarian violinist (d. 2003) *1923 - Rudolf Friedrich, Swiss Federal Councilor *1924 - Eva Marie Saint, American actress *1926 - Alfredo Di Stéfano, Argentine footballer *1927 - Gina Lollobrigida, Italian actress * 1927 - Neil Simon, American playwright *1929 - Al Davis, American football team owner (Oakland Raiders) * 1929 - Chuck Tanner, American baseball player * 1929 - Bill Tuttle, American baseball player (d. 1998) *1930 - Frunzik Mkrtchyan, Armenian actor * 1930 - George Steinbrenner, American businessman & baseball team owner (New York Yankees) * 1930 - Yuri Tyukalov, Soviet Olympic rower *1931 - Stephen Boyd, Northern Irish actor (d. 1977) * 1931 - Sébastien Japrisot, French author, film director and sreenwriter (d. 2003) *1934 - Colin Welland, English actor *1935 - Paul Scoon, Governor General of Grenada *1937 - Sonja Haraldsen, Queen of Norway (spouse of King Harald V of Norway) *1938 - Bill Withers, American singer and songwriter *1942 - Hal Lanier, American baseball player *1942 - Karolyn Grimes, American child actor * 1942 - Floyd Little, American football player * 1942 - Stefan Meller, Polish foreign minister *1943 - Konrad "Conny" Bauer, German musician * 1943 - Geraldo Rivera, American reporter * 1943 - Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson, American musician (Canned Heat) (d. 1970) * 1943 - Emerson Boozer, American football player *1944 - Ray Meagher, Australian actor *1946 - Tish Howard, American model * 1946 - Ron Kovic, American peace activist * 1946 - Michael Milken, American financier * 1946 - Ed O'Ross, American actor *1947 - Morganna Roberts, American personality (kissing bandit) *1948 - Ed Armbrister, baseball player * 1948 - René Arnoux, French race car driver * 1948 - Tommy Körberg, Swedish singer and actor * 1948 - Jeremy Spencer, English musician *1950 - David Jensen, Canadian-born British radio DJ *1951 - Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, American politician *1952 - Álvaro Uribe Vélez, Colombian politician *1954 - Jim Beattie, American baseball player *1955 - John Waite, English singer (The Babys) *1958 - Kirk Pengilly, Australian musician (INXS) *1959 - Victoria Abril, Spanish actress *1960 - Sid Eudy, American professional wrestler * 1960 - Roland Ratzenberger, Austrian racing driver (d. 1994) *1961 - Richard Garriott, English video game designer *1962 - Neil Morrisey, English actor * 1962 - Pam Shriver, American former tennis player *1963 - Henri Leconte, French former tennis player * 1963 - Matt Malley, American musician (Counting Crows) * 1963 - José Oquendo, Puerto Rican baseball player *1964 - Cle Kooiman, American soccer player * 1964 - Mark Slaughter, American singer (Slaughter) *1966 - Lee Reherman, American actor *1965 - Horace Grant, American basketball player *1967 - Vinny Castilla, Mexican baseball player * 1967 - Andy Walker, Canadian television personality * 1967 - Rick Wilkins, American baseball player *1971 - Andy Creeggan, Canadian musician (ex-Barenaked Ladies) * 1971 - Brendan Donnelly, American baseball player * 1971 - Koko, sign-language gorilla * 1971 - Andrew Murray, English entrepreneur *1973 - Keiko Ihara, Japanese racing driver * 1973 - Michael Johnson, English-born Jamaican footballer * 1973 - Jan Magnussen, Danish racing driver * 1973 - Tony Popović, Australian soccer player * 1973 - Gackt, Japanese singer (ex-vocalist of Malice Mizer) *1974 - La'Roi Glover, American football player * 1974 - Vince Spadea, American tennis player *1975 - Tania Davis, Australian violist (bond) *1976 - Daijiro Kato, Japanese motorcycle racer (d. 2003) *1977 - Katia Zygouli, Greek super model, winner of Elite Model Look contest 1996 *1978 - Emile Mpenza, Belgian footballer * 1978 - Becki Newton, American actress *1983 - Isabeli Fontana, Brazilian model * 1983 - Ben Jorgensen, American musician *1984 - Gina Glocksen, American Idol finalist * 1984 - Akanishi Jin, Japanese Idol (member of KAT-TUN) *1986 - Kriss Donald, Glaswegian boy who was murdered for being white in 2004 *2003 - Alessia di Matteo, first survivor of eight transplants in one operation (d. 2005) Deaths * 907 - Luitpold * 965 - Pope Benedict V * 973 - Ulrich of Augsburg, German bishop (b. 890) *1187 - Raynald of Chatillon, Prince of Antioch *1541 - Pedro de Alvarado, Spanish explorer (b. 1495) *1546 - Hayreddin Barbarossa, Admiral of the Ottoman Navy (b. 1478) *1603 - Philippe de Monte, Flemish composer (b. 1521) *1623 - William Byrd, English composer *1648 - Antoine Daniel, French Jesuit missionary, one of the Canadian Martyrs (b. 1601) *1742 - Guido Grandi, Italian mathematician (b. 1671) *1754 - Philippe Néricault Destouches, French dramatist (b. 1680) *1761 - Samuel Richardson, English writer (b. 1689) *1780 - Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine, Austrian military leader (b. 1712) *1787 - Charles de Rohan, Marshal of France (b. 1715) *1821 - Richard Cosway, English artist (b. 1742) *1826 - John Adams, 2nd President of the United States (b. 1735) * 1826 - Thomas Jefferson 3rd President of the United States (b. 1743) *1831 - James Monroe, 5th President of the United States (b. 1758) *1848 - François-René de Chateaubriand, French writer (b. 1768) *1850 - William Kirby, English entomologist (b. 1759) *1854 - Karl Friedrich Eichhorn, German jurist (b. 1781) *1857 - William L. Marcy, American statesman (b. 1786) *1881 - Johan Vilhelm Snellman, Finnish statesman (b. 1806) *1882 - Joseph Brackett, American composer (b. 1797) *1891 - Hannibal Hamlin, U.S. Vice President (b. 1809) *1901 - Johannes Schmidt, German linguist (b. 1843) *1902 - Swami Vivekananda, Indian spiritual leader (b. 1863) *1905 - Élisée Reclus, French anarchist (b. 1830) *1910 - Melville Weston Fuller, 8th Chief Justice of the United States (b. 1833) * 1910 - Giovanni Schiaparelli, Italian astronomer (b. 1835) *1916 - Alan Seeger, American war poet (b. 1888) *1922 - Lothar von Richthofen, German pilot (b. 1894) *1926 - Pier Giorgio Frassati, Italian mountaineer (b. 1901) *1931 - Buddie Petit, American jazz musician (b. 1895) * 1931 - Emanuele Filiberto, Italian aristocrat (b. 1869) *1934 - Maria Sklodowska-Curie, Nobel Prize in Chemistry and Physics (b. 1867) *1938 - Otto Bauer, Austrian Social Democratic politician (b. 1881) * 1938 - Suzanne Lenglen, French tennis player (b. 1899) *1941 - Antoni Łomnicki, Polish mathematician (b. 1881) *1946 - Gerda Steinhoff, Nazi concentration camp overseer (b. 1922) *1948 - Monteiro Lobato, Brazilian writer (b. 1882) *1963 - Bernard Freyberg, Governor-General of New Zealand (b. 1889) *1970 - Barnett Newman, American artist (b. 1905) * 1970 - Harold Stirling Vanderbilt, member of the Vanderbilt family (b. 1884) *1971 - August Derleth, American writer and editor (b. 1909) *1975 - Georgette Heyer, English author (b. 1902) *1976 - Antoni Słonimski, Polish poet (b. 1895) *1977 - Gersh Budker, Russian physicist (b. 1918) *1980 - Maurice Grevisse, Belgian grammarian (b. 1895) *1982 - Terry Higgins, early British AIDS death (b. 1945) *1984 - Jimmie Spheeris, American singer-songwriter (b. 1949) *1986 - Oscar Zariski, Russian mathematician (b. 1899) * 1986 - Flor Peeters, Belgian composer, organist, and teacher (b. 1903) *1988 - Adrian Adonis, American artist (b. 1954) *1991 - Victor Chang, Australian physician (b. 1936) *1992 - Ástor Piazzolla, Argentinian composer (b. 1921) *1993 - Bona Arsenault, French Canadian politician and historian (b. 1903) *1994 - Joey Marella, American professional wrestling referee (b. 1964) *1995 - Eva Gabor, Hungarian actress (b. 1919) * 1995 - Bob Ross, American artist and television host (b. 1942) *1997 - Charles Kuralt, American television presenter (b. 1934) * 1997 - John Zachary Young, English zoologist (b. 1907) *1999 - Leo Garel, American artist and cartoonist (b.1917) *2000 - Gustaw Herling-Grudzinski, Polish writer (b. 1919) *2001 - Keenan Milton, Professional Skater (b. 1974) *2002 - Benjamin O. Davis Jr., American general (b. 1912) * 2002 - Mansoor Hekmat, Iranian politician (b. 1951) *2003 - Barry White, American singer (b. 1944) * 2003 - André Claveau, French singer (b. 1915) *2004 - Jean-Marie Auberson, Swiss conductor (b. 1920) * 2004 - Frank Robinson, an eccentric street entertainer in Nottingham, England (b. 1932) *2005 - Hank Stram, American football coach (b. 1923) *2007 - Barış Akarsu, Turkish rock musician (b. 1979) * 2007 - Bill Pinkney, American singer and performer (b. 1925) Holidays and observances *United States - Independence Day (1776) *United states - Herman day parade. *Filipino-American Friendship Day *In astronomy, the approximate date of Earth's aphelion. Liturgical feasts *Saint Flavian *Translation, Ordination of Saint Martin, bishop of Tours, confessor Bruges, sometimes in red *Saint Odo, bishop of Canterbury *Saint Procopius, abbot (at Prague), confessor Prague, Gnesen, Meissen *Saint Ulric, bishop of Augsburg, confessor (died 973) *Saint Bertha, widow, abbess of Blangy in Artois *Saint Elizabeth Lusitania of Portugal (died 136) External links * BBC: On This Day * *On This Day in Canada ---- Category:July